Chapter 15 Obstruction
"The Dali Temple is here, how dare you commit murder in broad daylight?!"
"Arrest them all!"
Zhao Li's face was full of anger, which made him even more convinced that the letter the maid had delivered might be genuine.
"Who dares to arrest anyone from the residence of the Vice Minister of Works?!"
Qiu Zhaolan stared sharply at Zhao Li, her head held high, displaying the demeanor of the matriarch of the Chen family to the fullest.
"What right do you, a mere Sizhi, have to arrest people in the residence of the Vice Minister of Works? I am the Vice Minister's wife!"
"The cause of death of the Vice Minister is unknown. The Court of Judicial Review has a duty to thoroughly investigate the case after receiving the complaint. Even if you are the Vice Minister's wife, you cannot obstruct the Court of Judicial Review from handling the case!"
The two clashed, and the atmosphere instantly became tense.
"Nonsense! My master was diagnosed with an incurable disease. How can the cause of death be unknown? I know this better than anyone."
"Does your Dali Temple prefer to believe the words of a maidservant from a brothel rather than the words of me, the wife of a vice minister?"
Zhao Li narrowed his eyes, looking at the assertive Qiu Zhaolan, and said coldly, "The Dali Temple only believes in evidence. We came here to investigate the case. If you continue to obstruct us, Madam, then I have to suspect that Lord Chen's death is related to you..."
Qiu Zhaolan suddenly looked at him, her eyes filled with shock, as if to say that he dared to disregard her, even though she was a member of the Qiu family!
"You! Do you even know what you're saying?!"
Seeing that she seemed to be suppressed, Aunt He hurriedly cried out to him for help: "Save me! My lord! The master's death was murdered..."
"Shut up, stop talking nonsense!"
Qiu Zhaolan shouted angrily.
Zhao Li looked down at her and said, "Take Aunt He back to the Dali Temple and find a doctor for her."
“He Wan is a member of our Chen family. Her indenture is in my hands. You cannot take her away! She is just a servant of the Chen family. Whether to beat or kill her should be decided by the master!”
Qiu Zhaolan was furious and could no longer maintain her composure; she was also quite anxious.
The men from the Dali Temple were strong and powerful, and they couldn't stop her. Qiu Zhaolan could only watch helplessly as they took her away, and her face immediately became somewhat distorted.
Then, seeing that he was about to go into the side room, she hurriedly went over and blocked the doorway.
"What are you doing? The master's body is inside!"
“It is precisely because it is the remains of the Lord that we must go in. Madam, I have been tolerant of you time and time again. Don’t blame me for punishing you for obstructing the court’s investigation.”
Seeing that things were not going well, Butler Lin quickly stepped forward and pulled her aside, "Madam, why don't we stand aside for a moment?"
Qiu Zhaolan forced herself to calm down, but her palms clenched tightly, her fingertips turning white. She sneered, "Family scandals should not be aired in public. Since you, sir, want to humiliate me like this, then let's see."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Li frowned, turned and looked at her with a puzzled expression, but still went inside.
He slowly entered the inner room, his first glance landing on the bed, but he didn't see anyone. Then he looked around and saw a soft couch placed against the south wall and a person lying on the bed.
He was dressed neatly and looked lively and energetic. If his eyes hadn't been closed, he would have really thought that the person was alive.
However, he didn't look like someone suffering from an incurable disease at all. Suddenly, he thought of something and turned to look at the butler who had followed him in.
"You hired a funeral director?!"
Butler Lin looked at him in a panic: "Is...is there a problem, sir?"
He immediately felt a headache coming on, because the surface traces had already been cleaned up, making it even more difficult to solve the case.
But what did she mean by the humiliation she just mentioned?
However, we'll have to wait for the coroner to perform an autopsy to find out.
"Someone, bring a carriage and take the Vice Minister back to the Dali Temple!"
"What are you doing taking the master away?! This is desecrating the body! It's disrespectful to the deceased and the Chen family! The master will not rest in peace in the afterlife."
"Madam, we would be grateful if you could come with us as well."
Qiu Zhaolan glared fiercely at Zhao Li standing in front of her, "You dare?!"
"I, this lady, will file a complaint with the Emperor! I will impeach you, the Dali Temple, before His Majesty for disrespecting officials of the court and for unjustly arresting the families of officials of the court!"
As she spoke, she turned and stormed out of the house. Before she even left the courtyard, she heard a shout coming from behind her.
"Stop her!"
When faced with the people who wanted to arrest Qiu Zhaolan, Granny Wang stood in front of her anxiously and roared at them with all her might.
"How dare you! My wife is a member of the family of the Vice Minister of Works! You dare to arrest someone in the residence of a government official without an arrest warrant!"
They ignored her and pushed her to the ground, surrounding Qiu Zhaolan.
Zhao Li said, "Madam, would you like to leave on your own, or should we 'invite' you to leave?!"
He emphasized the word "please" on purpose.
Qiu Zhaolan sneered and asked, "What's your name?"
"Zhao Li."
"Very well, Zhao Li, you'll regret this!"
Qiu Zhaolan waved his sleeve and strode forward.
Zhao Li disagreed and said in a low voice, "Bring all the concubines of the Chen family back to the Dali Temple."
While they were sunbathing in their respective yards, a group of people suddenly burst in and arrested them without explanation, causing a panic.
Aunt An cried out in alarm, "What are you doing? Who are you? This is the Chen residence, how dare you act so wildly!"
The others also cried and screamed, and the children wailed incessantly. The scene was chaotic, and those who didn't know the situation might have thought that the Chen family's house had been ransacked.
Zhao Li immediately snapped, "Be gentle! Why are you being so rude to the women?!"
The Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice were equally tyrannical in handling cases. The main difference was that if they didn't do it this way, they wouldn't have any deterrent effect. This case should have been handled by the Ministry of Justice, but the person who died was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, who was a fourth-rank official.
Cases involving the Six Ministries and above were all handled by the Court of Judicial Review, as were cases that the Ministry of Justice could not handle.
When I went outside, there were already several carriages parked at the gate.
Since it's not a conviction, but just an interrogation, they should still be given the respect due to befitting the family members of the Vice Minister of Works.
When the people from the Chen family were brought back from the Dali Temple, Tao Tao had already arrived at West Street.
As she slowly drove the carriage, she scanned the street vendors, trying to find the old Taoist priest.
She had walked around the street several times, and even saw the secluded shop called "Good Beginning and Good Ending" three times, but she hadn't seen a trace of the old Taoist priest.
However, there was a young one.
Tao Tao swayed and stopped in front of his stall. Next to the stall was a flag that read "Fortune Telling and Destiny Reading". On the table were copper coins, tortoise shells, paper, pens and Bagua diagrams.
She quietly observed him.
He was young and fair-skinned, and always smiling when he was with people, unlike the stern and unsmiling old Taoist priest of a few years ago.
Could it be that this person has usurped the old Taoist's position?
This person is obviously eloquent, and the old Taoist priest doesn't know how to say nice things. Could it be that he was really driven away by him?
But he doesn't seem like that kind of person.
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